Welcome to the world of Jenniffer Wardell, author of “Beast Charming," "Fairy Godmothers, Inc," "Fighting Sleep" and more. It's a place where fantasy runs smack into reality (after which they both exchange business cards and hope no one calls the insurance company). Perfect for fans of Terry Pratchett and Mercedes Lackey's "500 Kingdoms" series.

Pages

Friday, October 5, 2012

Q&A with author Lehua Parker

Lehua Parker’s MG/YA novel One Boy, No Water,
book one in the Niuhi Shark Saga. It’s available from Barnes & Noble and
Amazon in hardback, trade paperback, and ebook.

What was your inspiration for
One Boy, No Water?

One
Boy, No Water had its genesis in an image from a movie I saw when I was
seven. The person responsible for all the missing villagers was revealed to be
a young man with a gaping shark's mouth where his back should be! He'd kept his
back hidden and had been living in the village all his life. Over the years my
mind kept returning to that image wondering ‘what if?’ The answer to some of
those questions is the Niuhi Shark Saga. One Boy, No Water is book one
in a five part series.

What was your favorite thing
about the process of writing the book?

Getting
so caught up in crafting the story that I completely lose track of time. I love
writing in the wee hours when the house is dark and quiet and it's just me, the
glow from the computer screen, and a dog or two sleeping at my feet.

What was the most challenging
thing about the process of writing the book?

It's one of the themes in the book: staying in balance. When I'm
working on a book, I start out by reading everything I can get my hands on that
might in some way relate to some vague ideas I have about characters or plot. I
bang out a couple of chapters just to see what's percolating. I research a bit
more and think a lot. I sketch out a rough outline of the plot—or what I think
is the plot. I tinker around with it a little and think some more. Up until
this point, I can still function in the real world. The kids get hot meals and
clean clothes and can expect to get taken to soccer and piano on time.

And
then it happens. At some point it all comes together and I get obsessed. I lose
all balance and perspective. I basically lock myself in my office and write,
sometimes for fifteen or twenty hours straight. If I didn't have to eat or
sleep, I'd probably sit at the computer until it's done. Fortunately in my
non-book writing periods, I taught the kids how to cook and do laundry.

To
try to keep balance in my life when I'm deep into a book, I write one day (and
night and sometimes the next day!), then take a day off. I'll read what I
wrote, have an actual conversation with my husband and kids, nurse the carpel
tunnel in my wrists and pain in my neck and shoulders, and get some sleep. It
starts all over again the following day when I'm in the shower mentally working
out how what needs to come next in the story is going to happen.

Brief
Bio

Lehua Parker is originally from Hawaii
and a graduate of The Kamehameha Schools and Brigham Young University. So far
she has been a live television director, a school teacher, a courseware
manager, an instructional designer, a sports coach, a theater critic, a SCUBA
instructor, a poet, a web designer, a mother, and a wife. Her debut novel, One
Boy, No Water is the first book in her MG/YA series the Niuhi Shark Saga.
She currently lives in Utah with her husband, two children, four cats, two
dogs, six horses, and assorted chickens. During the snowy Utah winters she
dreams about the beach.